Not to be overly dramatic, but is it possible to fall in love with a cleaning product? We've been working on breaking our paper towel addiction. We'd already reduced our paper towel use by a lot - by simply starting to use our recycled old white bath towels which we cut down to size.
The problem? The cloths are so worn out that they don't have much absorbency left in them - but now that we've added the Euro Cloth to our collection of cleaning cloths we rarely reach for the paper towels at all. We picked them up recently and they work really, really well for both daily and deeper cleaning.
The Euro Cloth is essentially a super skinny, large format sponge - which is reusuable, anti-bacterial, washable in the dishwasher, and completely biodegradable at the end of it's useful life.
Here are the details:
Euro Cloth #20: With the absorbency of a paper towel and the reusability of a sponge, the Euro Cloth #20 is a modern and eco-friendly solution for wiping even the messiest of spills. Made from sustainable pine trees, the Euro Cloth is long lasting (one Euro Cloth equals 17 rolls of paper towels), anti-bacterial, dishwasher safe and biodegradable (the Euro Cloth disappears after 7 weeks if buried in the soil).
TWIST products are all natural; the cellulose used to make TWIST products is sourced from renewable tree farms. In addition, TWIST takes special care to make sure 99/97% of all waste is reused in production, and is committed to continually improving production process to minimize the effect on the environment.
The suggested retail for a 3-pack of Euro Cloths is $3.99. They are on sale at our Whole Foods right now for $2.69, so we've stocked up.
Thanks for the sale tip! These look great. Our little guy keeps unraveling our paper towel rolls... just another reason to go green.
view selena's profile
I just picked up one of these a couple weeks ago at Whole Foods. I love them!!!!!
view katie's profile
Oh yeah and I love that you can make a bird house out of the packaging! Win win situation!
view katie's profile
It seems green-er. Its a great way to reduce paper towel use. Problem is these will never get buried in dirt. They will go into landfills where they will never decay. Good idea in principle. Probably will try them out and see.
view Trumystique's profile
This is probably a little gross but...
We have cats. Cats have hairballs. That requires paper towel, right? I can't put the kabosh on them entirely.
view julie mack's profile
Another good alternative to paper towels, if you can get your hands on them, are surgical scrub towels. These are used only once and then thrown away if someone doesn't claim them, due to the need for a sterile environment. Most are simply used as drapes or to dry hands and surfaces-- after a trip through a commercial washer, they are ready for in-home use! They last forever, and are made of cotton.
Ask your friendly doctor, scrub tech, vet, nurse, etc if they know what their clinic/hospital does with the used towels.
view Adri_H's profile
Great tip, and even though I live in a city, I could find a patch of soil to bury the used towels. And thanks, Adri_H for the tip on surgical scrub towels. I will look into that!
view pisceanchick's profile
This is a great idea! I am terribly addicted to paper towels too. I definitely need to try this product out.
view Gwen Pentland's profile
I will have to let you know how this goes. I am also slightly addicted to paper towels and it has been a thorn in my environmentalist-sister-roommate's side that I still use them. I happened to be at Whole Foods last night, and happened to walk down this aisle and there they were - on sale an everything! If you are thinking about trying this out, now would be a good time since they are on sale. I got two different sizes (one specified for use in kitchen and baths, one specified for general use). If thes work, I may end up using my paper towel holder (hung horizontally under cabinet by sink) as a drying rack for these things and never use paper towels again! I will recruit my sis to do the burying in the dirt though...
view mabaker's profile
what is the difference between these and regular cellulose sponges?
view sanna's profile
I was amazed when I moved to the States that there were nothing like this in the stores, just an aisle full of paper towels! I finally found some in ACE Hardware Store, and they we're "painting rags". Hmmh.
This is what I'm talking about:
http://www.walgreens.com/store/product.jsp?CATID=100776&navAction=jump&navCount=1&id=prod393967
I like to use these Magla Easy Wipe Reusable Wiping Cloths. The Euro-Cloth-thingies mentioned above are great and sponge-like for drying up spills, but the wiping cloths I have have little holes, so they dry quicker (and don't start to smell so easily). I hardly ever use paper towels.
I have Easy Wipes in different colors, blue for table surfaces, orange for floors etc. and yellow for the bathroom. (the only place where I use paper towels is wiping the toilet seat when cleaning and that could also be done with a rag and some disinfectant, but this is just a habit I have).
I also have colour-coded rubber gloves, pink for dishes/tables, yellow for unsanitary places like the trash can/toilet/shower drain and blue for everything else.
My mum soaks used her wiping cloths in Chlorox every now and then â I use a 7th Generation product. You can also put them in the washer.
view Lilli K.'s profile